Duke Nukem (character)
right|thumb|''Duke Nukem'' Duke Nukem is an action hero created by Todd Replogle, George Broussard, Allen H Blum III and Scott Miller of 3D Realms. From Duke Nukem 3D onwards, Duke is voiced by Jon St. John. History Duke Nukem was introduced to the world as the title character of the Apogee platform game Duke Nukem I, which was published in 1991. This game is a side-scrolling platform game, and contained three episodes, the first of which was distributed as shareware. Many staples of a Duke Nukem game were established here, such as Duke's general appearance, the necessity of collecting keys/access cards, various pick-up items (although the types of items were fairly generic, and some have never been seen since) and many destructible objects. It also introduced a wide variety of enemies to fight against, although most if not all of these enemies would be absent/heavily redesigned in the sequels. Duke Nukem I is set in the "near future" of 1997, and depicts Duke's attempts to thwart the evil megalomaniac Dr. Proton and his army of Techbots. The first episode shows Duke's journey through the devastated city of Los Angeles, before the second episode takes him to Dr. Proton's secret moonbase. Finally, Duke follows Dr. Proton to the future and puts a permanent end to his plans to take over the world. The first sequel, Duke Nukem II was released in 1993, and featured many improvements on the original, such as sloped surfaces, more colours and multiple weapons to use (although only one could be carried at a time). It is still a side-scrolling platform game, like the original. In this game, Duke faces off against the alien race known as the Rigelatins, who are attempting to enslave Earth. They kidnap Duke during an interview for his new autobiography "Why I'm So Great", in an attempt to use his brain to help direct the attack on Earth. Duke escapes, and proceeds to defeat the aliens, before finally escaping back to Earth. The third installment of the Duke Nukem franchise is perhaps the most notable, and has built up a large following and inspired many spin-off games. Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person 3D shooter game, and was released in 1996. The game picks up where Duke Nukem II ends, with Duke being shot down by unknown assailants and being forced to eject onto a rooftop while his escape pod crashes into a nearby building. He then proceeds to "kick ass and chew bubblegum", but quickly finds that he is "all out of gum". It revolutionized the Duke Nukem franchise, and introduced most, if not all, of what Duke fans love. Duke now has a distinct personality, which is shown through his many soundclips and the few cutscenes in the game. A whole host of weapons, some of which are still unique to this day, and a variety of pick-ups including Night Vision Goggles and a Portable Medkit all debuted here, although it can be argued that the Jetpack is the favourite amongst players. Appearance Duke is a large, muscled man who appears to be in his mid-twenties or early thirties and with a blond flat-top and sunglasses. It is said that he was 29 years old in the 1996 Duke Nukem 3D, but this is rather unclear.He wears a red wifebeater, blue jeans, black boots and black fingerless leather gloves. He also wears a bandolier which, amongst other things, contains his Portable Medkit, access cards, Steroids, Pipebombs and the ammo for his Chaingun Cannon, as well as all the ammo for all his other weapons. His signature items are the Jetpack and his black sunglasses, along with his golden Desert Eagle handgun. Also, we must not forget his Nuke logo - like the one on his belt buckle. He is cool and he knows it. He is considered to be the ultimate alien asskicker, who loves big, automatic weapons and babes. Women are attracted to him like magnets. He is really a macho. He also enjoys a cigar and occasionally is seen smoking one. Personality right|thumb|125px|''Duke Nukem'' in [[Duke Nukem II.]] Duke didn't show much of his personality during the first two games, but it was shown that Duke was "a humble sort of guy" initially provoked into fighting Dr. Proton because he interrupted Duke's soap operas. Duke Nukem 3D revealed Duke as a hyper-masculine, egotistical, machismo-filled womanizer. His goal was to kill the aliens that had kidnapped and enslaved Earth's women. He is a confident, aggressive, and frequently politically incorrect muscle-man who, although not technically superhuman, nonetheless manages to achieve incredible physical feats of violence and conquest through sheer machismo and expertise with automatic weapons. Like the characters played by Bruce Campbell, Nukem is also a smart-mouth (although Duke's humor is somewhat less sarcastic and more straightforwardly aggressive; a few of Duke Nukem 3D's phrases are taken directly from the Campbell film Army of Darkness), and his sneering visage is often found speaking one-liners while slaughtering his enemies. He is also apparently extremely sexually adept and irresistible to women, and circumstances generally find him surrounded by many buxom women (though certain signs in the games seem to indicate a girlfriend - current or ex - named Lani, a possible reference to sound engineer and voice actress Lani Minella). There is also an inside joke that circulated on the internet that compares Duke's looks to that of former NFL player Howie Long. Duke Nukem's character is a pastiche of a number of Hollywood-action heroes, such as those played by Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone, as well as Kurt Russell's character from Big Trouble In Little China, Roddy Piper's character from They Live, and Ash Williams from the Evil Dead series. Sam "Serious" '' Stone, the main character of ''Serious Sam is a homage to Duke Nukem. Games starring Duke Nukem Main series *Duke Nukem I *Duke Nukem II *Duke Nukem 3D *Duke Nukem Forever Duke Nukem 3D expansion packs *Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach *Duke: Nuclear Winter *Duke it out in D.C. Duke Nukem 3D ports *Duke Nukem 64 *Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown Spin-offs *Duke Nukem: Time To Kill *Duke Nukem: Zero Hour *Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes *Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project *Duke Nukem Advance Other games with Duke Nukem Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure Duke Nukem can be found in Cosmo's Cosmic Adventures. He appears in Episode 2, Level 7. If you put a bomb where he is stuck in the ice, then he will be freed. Here is their conversation: Cosmo: Yikes! Who are you? Duke: I'm Duke Nukum, green alien dude. Until you rescued me, I was stopped cold by an alien invasion force. Cosmo: Wow! Can you help rescue my parents? Duke: Sorry, kid, I've got to save the galaxy... ...but I can give you something that will help you out. Cosmo: Thanks, Mr. Nukum, and good luck on your Mission. Duke: Just look for me in my next exciting adventure, Duke Nukum II! Cosmo: Bye. Duke: See ya... and have those spots checked...! Category:Characters